Practical Engineering Management

Practical Engineering Management

Somewhere Between Professional and Unprofessional is the Truth

Polite Teams Are Failing Teams

Mirek Stanek's avatar
Mirek Stanek
Jul 20, 2026
∙ Paid

Many engineering leaders are obsessed with maintaining a sterile, perfectly sanitized environment. They want every discussion grounded exclusively in KPIs, objectives, and outcomes. They want “professionalism.”

But here is a hard truth you need to swallow: if your team is always perfectly polite and measured with you, they are probably hiding something.

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